news-record.com

NORFOLK, Va. — The Norfolk State Spartans let one slip away Saturday night at Echols Hall. Literally.

Leading by as many as 10 in the second half, the Spartans fell in overtime to N.C. A&T 93-84 in their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener.

Norfolk State had a chance to win it in regulation, but standout guard Michael Deloach lost his footing, and the ball, as he tried to slash into the lane with three seconds left.

Overtime then belonged to the Aggies, who outscored the Spartans 16-7 in the extra time.

"I lost this game myself," said Deloach, the MEAC's preseason player of the year. "I made two or three turnovers near the end and I should have just ended this game in regulation. I was careless with the ball."

A&T coach Jerry Eaves thought the 6-foot senior was being a little hard on himself.

"He's the best player in the league and we knew he loves to go left then spin back to the right," Eaves said. "I put my big team on the floor a lot in the last 10 minutes to give him some big trees to shoot over. And I really think he tired near the end because he was trying to do too much."

Eaves said he felt very fortunate to "get a win over Norfolk State (1-7) before they get healthy and to full strength, because they will be very, very hard to beat once they are."

Tavarus Alston and Dwane Joshua scored 23 points apiece for the Aggies, who launched 37 3-point attempts, making 11.

"Our goal is to shoot 50 a game," said Eaves. "Norfolk State got out on us and didn't let that happen."

The Spartans didn't get out as much as coach Anthony Evans would have liked, particularly in the waning minutes.

"We gave up to many offensive rebounds and didn't close out on some shooters like we should have," Evans said.

Alston scored the Aggies' last six points in regulation on a pair of 16-footers and a stick-back that came after Norfolk State's James Williams appeared to corral a rebound, only to slip and fall, leaving the ball bouncing under A&T's bucket for Alston.

O'Quinn then scored on a tip-in with 47 seconds left to deadlock it at 77 all.

N.C. A&T (4-5) — Alston 6-19 10-13 23, Simpson 5-6 3-4 17, Coleman 1-4 3-4 5, Upchurch 0-4 0-0 0, Johnson 5-9 0-0 12, Joshua 8-20 3-6 23, Hill 1-2 1-2 3, Witter 0-2 0-0 0, Porter 5-6 0-4 10. Totals 31-72 20-33 93.

NORFOLK STATE (1-7) — Hampton 7-17 1-2 18, Deloach 7-15 4-6 20, Zephyr 0-5 2-2 2, O'Quinn 10-16 2-5 25, Perry 1-3 0-0 2, Nixon 0-1 1-2 1, Dorsett-Jeffreys 3-7 0-1 6, Williams 3-8 0-0 9, Wheeless 0-4 1-4 1. Totals 31-76 11-22 84.

Halftime—Norfolk State 41-37.
End Of Regulation—Tied 77.
3-point goals—N.C. A&T 11-37 (Simpson 4-4, Joshua 4-15, Johnson 2-6, Alston 1-8, Upchurch 0-1, Hill 0-1, Witter 0-2), Norfolk State 11-28 (O'Quinn 3-5, Williams 3-6, Hampton 3-7, Deloach 2-6, Zephyr 0-1, Nixon 0-1, Wheeless 0-2).
Fouled out—Joshua.
Rebounds—N.C. A&T 46 (Coleman, Porter 10), Norfolk State 51 (Hampton, O'Quinn 12).
Assists—N.C. A&T 15 (Alston 5), Norfolk State 14 (Deloach 10).
Total fouls—N.C. A&T 24, Norfolk State 23.
A—1,800.